School Chooser

Cosby Primary School

Primary · ages 3-11MixedAcademy326 pupilsNurseryLeicesterLeicestershire
School Chooser Score
64
In line with
similar schools
Likely range 41 to 81
Out of 100. Better than 47% of the 50 schools most like it. Slipping year on year.
OfstedGoodLast Ofsted inspection, October 2022
Reached the expected level at 1174%England 63%
Attendance95.7%England 94.8%
Pupils from low-income families13%Far fewer than most schools
PlacesFull326 pupils, 280 places
Pupils per teacher22.6School workforce census

Cosby Primary School is a converter academy in Leicester for boys and girls aged 3 to 11. It has 326 pupils, 46 more than it has places for. About 13 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far fewer than at most schools in England. We give it 64 out of 100. That puts it in line with schools like it, ahead of 47% of the 50 schools most like it. Ofsted's last grade was good, back in 2022.

Portland Street, Cosby, Leicester, LE9 1TE0116 286 3103cosby.schoolMrs Lorna Townsend headteacherAll details

What Ofsted found

Ofsted's last full inspection was on 11 October 2022, back when it gave schools one overall grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.

Good overall.

TeachingOfsted calls this “quality of education”
Good
BehaviourOfsted calls this “behaviour and attitudes”
Good
WellbeingOfsted calls this “personal development”
Good
LeadershipOfsted calls this “leadership and management”
Good
Early years
Good
Safeguarding
Effective
Yes

Results

Year 6 results (SATs), summer 2025

39 children took the tests. Here is how they did against every state primary in England.

Reached the expected level at 1174%
England 63%
Official name: Expected standard in reading, writing and maths
Working above the expected level3%
England 8%
Official name: Higher standard in reading, writing and maths
Reading score107.0
England 105.6
Official name: Reading average scaled score
Maths score106.0
England 104.6
Official name: Maths average scaled score
Trend
Reached the expected level at 11
2017 to 2025
2017: 59%59%20172018: 53%53%20182019: 61%61%20192023: 77%77%20232024: 76%76%20242025: 74%74%2025
Since 2017: +15%Declining overall
All Year 6 measures, year by year
Measure202520242023201920182017LeicestershireEngland
Pupils tested393339363639
Reached the expected level at 11Expected standard in reading, writing and maths74%76%77%61%53%59%63%63%
Working above the expected levelHigher standard in reading, writing and maths3%3%13%11%6%3%6%8%
Reading scoreReading average scaled score107.0106.0107.0104.0102.0104.0105.9105.6
Maths scoreMaths average scaled score106.0108.0108.0105.0102.0102.0104.9104.6
Grammar and spelling scoreGPS average scaled score107.0109.0110.0106.0104.0103.0105.6105.2
Expected level: readingReading expected standard82%85%77%67%61%74%
Expected level: mathsMaths expected standard87%97%85%81%67%74%
Expected level: writingWriting expected standard (teacher assessed)82%76%82%78%81%74%
Reading progressReading progress score+0.1-1.2-5.1-2.4
Maths progressMaths progress score+1.8-0.1-4.1-3.6
Expected level: low-income pupilsExpected standard, disadvantaged33%71%33%
Expected level: other pupilsExpected standard, non-disadvantaged82%78%67%

There are no progress figures for 2025. That year group missed their Year 2 tests during Covid, so there was no starting point to measure from. Progress figures come back with the December 2026 results. Tests were cancelled altogether in 2020 and 2021.

Does every child do well here?

A good school does well by every child, not just on average. Each row compares two groups of pupils here. The grey marks show the same two groups across England. 1 of the 3 gaps is smaller than the gap across England. When a group has fewer than about ten pupils, its figures jump around a lot from year to year.

At the end of primary school, 2025

Reached the expected level at 11Low-income pupils vs other pupils
33%82%
Gap 49 ptsEngland 21 pts
Reached the expected level at 11Boys vs girls
85%63%
Gap 22 ptsEngland 5 pts
Reached the higher level at 11Low-income pupils vs all pupils
0%3%
Gap 3 ptsEngland 5 pts
First groupSecond groupEngland, each group

Low-income means the child has had free school meals at some point in the last six years. A group's figure isn't published when it has fewer than six pupils.

Getting a place

Admissions policy not published.

Nearly full278 pupils for 280 places, 2024/25
99% full

Fewer than one place in twenty is empty, so in most years more families apply than there are places. Living close by, or already having a child here, makes a real difference. Pupil numbers have grown by 9% since 2021/22, so places are getting harder to come by.

Each council publishes its own figures on how many families applied and how far away the last child to get a place lived. We are adding councils one at a time. If you have a link to Leicestershire council's admissions booklet, send it to us.

Who goes here

Who a school teaches matters. That is why our score compares it with schools that take in a similar mix of children, not with every school in the country.

Pupils on roll326Census January 2026
Places280116% full
Pupils from low-income families13%13% have had free school meals at some point in the last six years
Pupils learning English3%First language is not English
Pupils getting extra support9%29 pupils with SEN support
Pupils with an EHC plan3%10 pupils with a plan
Average class size23.612 classes, January 2026; England 25.4
Classes with more than 30 pupils8%Infant classes are capped at 30 by law; England 10%
Pupils with extra funding (pupil premium)16%£69,750 extra funding in 2026/27; England 24%
Boys and girls168 / 158
White British pupils92%

Infant classes (Reception to Year 2) average 21.5 pupils (England 25.5); junior classes (Years 3 to 6) average 24.3 (England 27.3).

The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: Moderate learning difficulty (9), language and communications needs (9), emotional and mental health (8), Autistic spectrum disorder (4), Specific learning difficulty (3), Hearing impairment (2).

How the mix of pupils has changed
Census202620252024202320222021
Pupils on roll326281289287256237
Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals13%15%13%13%13%13%
Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language3%12%4%4%4%3%
Pupils getting extra supportSEN support12%10%7%9%8%
Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans2%1%1%1%1%

Attendance and behaviour

In 2024/25 pupils were in school 95.7% of the time. Across similar schools in England it was 94.8%.

Attendance95.7%
England 94.8%
Official name: 100 minus overall absence
Pupils missing a lot of school8.6%
England 12.8%
Official name: Persistent absence
Suspensions per 100 pupils2.12024/25, no permanent exclusions
Missed without permission1.0%of school time, 2024/25
Attendance year by year
Measure2024/252023/242022/232021/222020/212018/19England
Sessions missedOverall absence4.3%5.5%5.1%5.1%3.9%3.3%5.2%
Missed with permissionAuthorised absence3.3%4.1%3.9%4.0%3.1%2.5%
Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence1.0%1.4%1.2%1.1%0.9%0.9%
Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence8.6%12.6%16.1%12.4%6.5%5.3%12.8%
SuspensionsSuspension rate2.15.51.16.32.5
Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions00100

Staff and money

From the government's count of school staff in November 2025 and the school's published accounts.

Teachers14.4full-time equivalent, 16 people
Pupils per teacher22.6Pupils for every full-time teacher
Fully qualified teachers100%hold qualified teacher status
Teaching assistants8.0full-time equivalent
Average teacher pay£47,424
Teachers who left in the year7%2024/25, for any reason including retirement
Vacancies0
Sick days per teacher2.92024/25

Money

From the academy accounts return, year to August 2025. The per-pupil figures are compared with other primary schools in England that report their accounts the same way.

Spend per pupil£6,523England £7,128. Total £1.8m
Income per pupil£6,776England £7,587. Total £1.9m
Spent on teachers per pupil£3,317England £3,405
Money in reserve15%A healthy amount put by: £278k, £990 per pupil. England 9%
Money in against money out+£71kit took in more than it spent this year
Where the money goes£6,523spent per pupil

Reserves are the money left over at the end of the year, kept back for emergencies and big projects. Being in the red year after year is a warning sign. Very large reserves can mean money sitting in the bank instead of being spent on today's pupils. Academy figures are rounded to the nearest £1,000 and include a share of any money the trust holds centrally.

The area around the school

Crimes within 500 m4312 months to June 2026, mostly anti-social behaviour
Local crime rate41 per 1,000 people55% lower than the England average
Typical house price£276,000Blaby
Nearest bus stop280 mPortland Street, 6 stops within 500 m

Crime figures come from police.uk. The police record each crime at the nearest of a fixed set of map points rather than the exact spot, so “within 500 m” is only rough. House prices are from HM Land Registry sales nearby over the last two years.

Nearby schools

The closest primary schools, nearest first. Hover over a row to see it on the map.

Well aboveAboveIn lineBelowWell belowNot scored
SchoolTypeDistancePupilsOfstedScore
Badgerbrook Primary SchoolAcademy0.8 miles398Report card 202572Compare
St Peter's Church of England Primary School WhetstoneAcademy1.3 miles178Good 202372Compare
Greystoke Primary SchoolAcademy1.3 miles351Good 202355Compare
Blaby Stokes Church of England Primary SchoolAcademy1.5 miles197No overall grade 20255Compare
Red Hill Field Primary SchoolAcademy1.6 miles235Good 202274Compare
Blaby Thistly Meadow Primary SchoolCouncil1.8 miles329No overall grade 202573Compare
Enderby Danemill Primary SchoolAcademy2.1 miles354Good 202452Compare
Huncote Primary SchoolAcademy2.1 miles187Good 202242Compare

Compared with schools like it

Our score compares Cosby Primary School with the 45 schools in England whose pupils are most like its own. We match on family income, how many children are learning English, special needs, the neighbourhood, the size of the school and how it admits pupils. Those 45 schools are dotted all over the country, so we don't list them. What matters is where this school sits among them.

Beats47%of schools with a similar mix of pupils
In the lower half of its group. Its score of 64 is 6 points below the typical school in the group.
0Lowest of the group 3 · middle 70 · highest 98100

Nearby schools with a similar mix of pupils that score higher

Of those 45 schools, these are within 25 km and score at least five points more than Cosby Primary School, nearest first. A school with the same kind of pupils and a higher score is the fairest sign that it gets more out of them.

SchoolTypeDistancePupilsOfstedScore
Blaby Thistly Meadow Primary SchoolCouncil1.8 miles329No overall grade 202573Compare
Burbage Junior SchoolCouncil6.9 miles365Good 201978Compare

How the score was worked out

The score is out of 100. A 64 means that once everything below is added up, this school comes out ahead of 64% of primary schools in England. Results bounce around from year to year, especially in small schools, so we also show a likely range: 41 to 81. Every part is judged against schools with a similar mix of pupils. For small schools we pull each part towards the group average, so one unusual year can't swing the score too far.

What we looked atHow much it countsAgainst schools like itEffect on the scoreBased on
Results over three years25%above
+0.10
2025, 2024 and 2023 results; 39 pupils
Ofsted inspection18% (normally 20%, cut because the inspection is old)in line
+0.01
Ofsted grade, 3.9 years old
Progress pupils make20%in line
+0.01
DfE progress measure; 39 pupils
Direction of travel over five years10%below
-0.07
results and attendance falling year on year
Attendance and behaviour10%above
+0.07
2024/25; 257 pupils
Results, allowing for the mix of pupils10%above
+0.04
Attainment relative to schools with a similar intake; 39 pupils
What parents say0%no data

Worked out on 13 September 2026 (method v1). Read how the score works, including every weight and the checks we run. Think a number is wrong? Tell us.

Questions parents ask

Is Cosby Primary School a good school?

It is about average. Cosby Primary School scores 64 out of 100. That is in line with schools that take in a similar mix of pupils, and ahead of 47% of the 50 schools most like it in England. The score could fairly be anywhere from 41 to 81, so a few points either way between schools doesn't mean much. Its results have been slipping over the last five years.

What is Cosby Primary School's Ofsted rating?

Ofsted rated Cosby Primary School good at its last full inspection on 11 October 2022.

How good are Cosby Primary School's SATs results?

In summer 2025, 74% of Year 6 children reached the expected level in reading, writing and maths. Across England it was 63%. 3% went further and reached the higher level.

How many pupils does Cosby Primary School have?

326 pupils aged 3 to 11 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 280 places, so it is 116% full.

Is Cosby Primary School oversubscribed?

Often. Fewer than one place in twenty was empty in 2024/25, so popular year groups fill up.

What is attendance like at Cosby Primary School?

Pupils were in school 95.7% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 9% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.

How big are the classes at Cosby Primary School?

The average class had 23.6 pupils in January 2026. Across England it was 25.4. 8% of classes had more than 30 pupils.

These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.

Contact and details

Address
Portland Street, Cosby, Leicester, LE9 1TE
Telephone
0116 286 3103
Website
www.cosby.school
Headteacher
Mrs Lorna Townsend
Type of school
Converter academy (Academy converter, academies)
Phase
Primary school, ages 3-11, with nursery
Gender
Mixed
Multi-academy trust
Success Academy Trust (4 schools)
Local authority
Leicestershire
Ward
Cosby & South Whetstone
Constituency
South Leicestershire
Setting
Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
Opened
1 August 2012 (academy converter)
URN
138528 · LAESTAB 8552029 · UKPRN 10037878
Formerly
Cosby Primary School

Where these figures come from